In the 400 years since The Tempest was first staged millions of words have been written about it. Critics directors and actors have interpreted it in widely different ways and developed theories ranging from the moreorless plausible to the eccentric and the completely outlandish. It is undoubtedly one of Shakespeares greatest plays and as well as its bewitching music its hallucinatory quality and its enchanted island setting it contains some of Shakespeares most beautiful poetry and most famou